SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
*Crew Concludes Heat Shield Inspection, Prepares for Next Spacewalk*
12 AUGUST 2007
The STS-118 crew completed today’s focused inspection of Space Shuttle
Endeavour’s heat shield and has turned its attention to Monday’s
spacewalk. Using the shuttle robotic arm and 50-foot-long Orbiter Boom
Sensor System (OBSS), the crew collected imagery of five areas on
Endeavour’s underside that may have been damaged during the climb to
orbit on Aug. 8.
STS-118 Mission Specialists Tracy Caldwell and Barbara Morgan and
Commander Scott Kelly operated the shuttle’s robotic arm. STS-118 Pilot
Charles Hobaugh and Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clay Anderson were at
the controls of the International Space Station’s robotic arm.
The data collected during the inspection will be analyzed by experts and
engineers at the Mission Control Center in Houston.
Mission Specialists Dave Williams and Rick Mastracchio are preparing for
their second spacewalk. The preparations include spacesuit and tool
checkouts. Later today, the crew members will review the excursion’s
timeline before the spacewalkers begin the overnight campout in the
station’s Quest Airlock.
The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 11:31 a.m. EDT(1531 UTC) Monday.
The primary task is the replacement of a faulty control moment gyro in
the station’s Z1 truss. The station has four gyros that are used to
control the station’s attitude.
Later today, mission managers are expected to make a decision about a
possible mission extension to 14 days for STS-118. The decision will be
based upon the performance of the Station-to-Shuttle Power Transfer
System, which is designed to allow shuttles to receive power from the
station during docked operations.